Manchester City say they are aware of Benjamin Mendy’s COVID-19 New Year’s Eve breach.
Just three days after the club’s Premier League clash against Everton was postponed owing to numerous positive cases, it was reported the defender hosted a party at his home where members from outside his household attended.
“The club is aware of a New Year’s Eve COVID-19 breach involving Benjamin Mendy and the subsequent media reporting of it,” a club statement read.
“While it is understood that elements of this incident have been misinterpreted in the reports, and that the player has publicly apologised for his error, the club is disappointed to learn of the transgression and will be conducting an internal investigation.”
Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus tested positive for COVID-19 on Christmas Day and three more unnamed players are now self-isolating as well as two staff members.
The Sun writes that Mendy contacted a model agency boss in London asking for him to send him ‘girls’.
It is unclear at this stage whether any girls travelled down from the capital for the party.
Despite the COVID outbreak at City, Mendy still went ahead with the party – becoming the latest Premier League star to flout strict lockdown rules.
And on Sunday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there were a ‘range of tougher measures’ that he would consider in the coming weeks to grapple with the new variant of the virus.
A spokesperson for Mendy said: “Ben accepts that this [party] is a breach of COVID-19 protocols and is sorry for his actions in this matter.
“Benjamin has had a COVID test and is liaising with Man City about this.”
Tottenham trio Giovani Lo Celso, Erik Lamela and Sergio Reguilon, as well as West Ham star Manuel Lanzini, broke government COVID rules by spending Christmas together.
Meanwhile, Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic and Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic were allegedly filmed together on Instagram at a London New Year party.
The Cottagers are looking into the allegations, while Crystal Palace are also investigating the incident.
Fulham’s scheduled home clash against Burnley this Sunday was postponed as the west Londoners continue to experience a COVID outbreak at the club.
It is the second Fulham fixture to be called off after their clash with Tottenham also didn’t take place – and is the fourth top-flight match in total to be rescheduled due to coronavirus.
Newcastle’s clash at Aston Villa last month was postponed following an outbreak at St James’ Park, while Manchester City’s match at Everton on Monday didn’t happen as scheduled for the same reason.
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